Fiat Avventura crossover styled hatchback spotted in production trim

Fiat India’s third big launch for this year will be the Avventura crossover styled hatchback. The Avventura, which will be sold with petrol and turbo diesel engines borrowed from the facelifted Grande Punto, uses the same platform as the former and the same holds good with the interiors. However, the car gets butch looks that result from a major style makeover.

Compared with the Fiat Grande Punto, the Avventura features 16 inch wheels, ground clearance of over 200 mm, body cladding, roof rails, revised front and rear bumpers and a spare wheel mounted on the hatch lid. The Avventura will sit in the crossover-styled hatchback segment, that currently plays host to the Volkswagen Cross Polo and the Toyota Etios Cross.

A key change on the production version of the Avventura, when compared with the concept version of the car displayed at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo, is the omission of daytime running LEDs. This change apart, the production version of the Avventura looks quite similar to the concept version.

The Avventura is likely to be launched in India before September 2014. However, the facelifted Fiat Grande Punto will precede the Avventura into India. The B+ segment hatchback borrows styling cues such as the headlamps and the grille design from the Avventura.

Under the hood, the 1.4 liter FIRE petrol engine (89 Bhp-114 Nm) and the 1.3 liter Fiat Multijet turbo diesel engine (92 Bhp-209 Nm) with a variable geometry turbocharger are expected to be offered in the Avventura. Both these engines already do duty on the likes of the Punto and the Linea, and are therefore tried and tested units.

The Avventura is expected to be priced about Rs. 50,000-60,000 higher than equivalent variants of the facelifted Grande Punto. The car will be aimed at B+ segment hatchback buyers who want the looks of a crossover but who’re unwilling to fork out the extra money that crossovers like say a Ford EcoSport or a Renault Duster command.

Spyshot courtesy AutoColumn